Youth fervour at the box-office

Mumbai |
Published:January 21, 2014 10:57 am

Yaariyan scores over Dedh Ishqiya

By Jigar Shah
The year began on a mellow note with two films, Sholay 3D and Mr. Joe B Carvalho performing below expectations. This week we however had two love stories at the extreme end of the spectrum; one was the teeny-bopper Yaariyan with newcomers in the lead and helmed by debutante director, Divya Kumar Khosla. On the other, we had veterans like Nasseruddin Shah, Maduri Dixit Nene, Arshad Warsi and Huma Qureshi’s poetic drama unfolding on the screen. However, according to trade analysts, the youth-centric Yaariyan seemed to have an edge over the mature love story.

Youth power
Exhibitor Akshaye Rathi says, “Although, Yaariyan opened with a bang, because of its fabulous music and marketing efforts, Dedh Ishqiya grew by the day on pure merit. As I see it, both the film’s may end up in the same range at the domestic box-office, but Yaariyan has the advantage of being picked up easily for satellite rights, a fact that has been exploited well by T-Series.”
The music of Yaariyan too, played a very important role in pulling the audience, with two songs of Yo Yo Honey Singh trending the charts. Trade analyst Komal Nahta says, “Yaariyan has done good business as the music became very popular amongst the youth. Though Dedh Ishqiya received good reviews, it did not translate into numbers at the box-office.”

The spoken word
The language determined the fate of the films. While Yaariyan could relate to the youth, Dedh Ishqiya’s tenor could not strike a chord with the audience. With the actors talking in chaste Urdu, the makers had to put sub-titles for the audience to understand the dialogues.
Distributor Sunny Khanna says, “Dedh Ishqiya was a sequel to a successful film, with a good start cast. But the film’s content cost it dearly. After a not so great start on Friday, Rs.3.60 cr., the film collected Rs.4.25crore on Saturday and Rs. 5.75 crore on Sunday. The overall collections was Rs.13.60 crore.”Yaariyan, according to Khanna, was the dark horse that did fantastic business at the box-office on the opening day. “However the collections dipped by 10 per cent on the second day, but that was expected, as the film had limited appreciation and collected only Rs.5 cr. net on Saturday, after earning Rs.5.50 cr nett plus on Friday. The film earned Rs.5.75 cr nett on Sunday, taking the weekend total to Rs.16.25 cr nett. ”

Going strong
The Ravi Jadhav directorial Marathi film Timepass is creating new records at the box-office. The light-hearted comedy has earned Rs.13.5 cr. in the first week.

With a number of assignments on hand, Katrina Kaif is working round-the-clock to finish her projects. Two of Kaif’s movies, Bang Bang and Phantom are on a collision course, with both slated to release on October 2. While, the shooting of Bang Bang starring Hrithik Roshan was delayed due to Roshan’s health issues, the director, Siddharth Anand is confident that they will be able to release the film on the scheduled day as announced.
Meanwhile, Kaif is also busy completing work on the Saif Ali Khan starrer, Phantom, directed by Kabir Khan. Trade analysts, are however expecting that one of the film may shift their date and that it would most likely be Bang Bang as they have yet to resume shooting after having completed the first schedule.

Anurag Kashyap turns a cop

After making his mark as a producer, director, presenter and also as an actor, Anurag Kashyap will be seen in his home production, Ghomketu, playing the role of a cop. The film, directed by ad film-maker Pushpendra Mishra, stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the main lead.
According to a source related to the project, “Anurag plays a cop in the film, and has lost weight drastically to fit into his role.” Earlier, Kashyap’s histrionic abilities were seen in films like I Am, Shagird, Soundtrack and Luck By Chance.

Ayushmaan Khurrana in talks for Milan Talkies

Milan Talkies is one project Ekta Kapoor and Tigmanshu Dhulia are very interested in starting work on, and both of them are trying their best to put the right cast together.
After considering several actors, a source informed that, “Ayushmaan Khurrana who made his mark in films like Vicky Donor, has been approached by Dhulia and Kapoor for the film. Ayushmaan is presently shooting in Gujarat for a film. Talks are on, but nothing has been finalised as yet.”